


Lux Ex Tenebris

by Ivaleen



Series: Faith [2]
Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Letter, Or some attempts at least, Other, Post-Azran Legacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25265980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivaleen/pseuds/Ivaleen
Summary: "This can’t be," Layton gasped, eyes widening at the sight.There was a letter on his desk, and the sender was none other than Jean Descole.--One year after the events which unfolded in Azran Legacy, Layton receives a letter from his brother.- written for drownout 2020
Relationships: Hershel Layton & Desmond Sycamore, Jean Descole & Hershel Layton
Series: Faith [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013166
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Lux Ex Tenebris

The atmosphere was filled with uneasiness. Layton himself felt uneasy. There was something different today, but he could not quite put a finger on it. It was almost as if he’d known from the start that something would happen today, but he couldn’t grasp why it was haunting him so.

It became obvious as soon as he glanced over his desk.

Something was laid on it.

Even at a short distance, he could make sense of the provenance of that... that scrap of paper which was put on his desk.

He would have recognized the horrible handwriting everywhere.

It was...

“This can’t be,” Layton gasped, eyes widening at the sight.

There was a letter on his desk, and the sender was none other than Jean Descole.

Rather, it was Desmond Sycamore who had written the letter. Or was it? Desmond Sycamore didn’t exist anymore. He’d admitted it clearly himself. If there was no point in impersonating him before, neither was there now. Everything was over. Targent had been taken down, Layton had returned to his daily life, Emmy had left, and Desmond—Descole—had vanished into thin air.

He thought him dead.

He could—should—not have survived such a disaster, after all.

Layton was startled at the sudden realization - he found himself thinking he was happy to know that Desmond was still alive.

His long-lost brother was alive.

In spite of everything they’d gone through, he still wanted to see him as his brother. Descole and Desmond were two different personas. The one he missed was Desmond, of course. Layton had always wanted to see the good in others, and there was good in his brother - in Descole, even. The one he could not afford to consider a part of his family was his biological father, not his brother. Be that as it may, he would have been able to forgive Leon Bronev regardless. So it was only logical that he’d pay attention to what his brother had to say.

Still, he was hesitant about opening the letter. Another wicked scheme was not out of his league, after all. Desmond didn’t seem the type to be making peace with himself.

But he sure had a reason for writing to Hershel Layton after all this time.

___________________

“Layton,

Ah, how I would love to see the look on your face. You probably wonder how it can possibly be happening. You probably always thought I was dead, after all. Well, let me clarify one thing for you: I am not dead, and this is no dream.”

Layton shook, jaw clenching. He was absolutely right. He believed he was stuck in the middle of an impossible dream.

“Raymond picked me up just as I was about to fall in the depths of the ruins. I quickly realized I had nothing left to live for now that we helped taking these thugs down. No family—though it’s not as if I ever had one—no purpose, no hopes. It’s not that surprising considering I have always been a broken husk of a man.

I wandered for days. Now that everything was over, now that I had avenged my family’s death... I just had nothing left. Or maybe I had, for without Raymond’s _insufferable_ _pleas_ , I would never have thought about doing what I’m doing right now.

You have every right to pretend this letter never existed. That’s what I will convince myself of, anyway, so we’ll call it even. Let’s just say I had to do it so Raymond would finally get off my back. There was no other reason for me to write something as stupid as a letter to the one I enjoyed betraying so I could get my revenge. Why would I want to renew contact with a mere pawn in my plans?”

Layton could not hold back a soft laugh. There he was, trying to pretend he didn’t care. He’d spent the last thirty years of his life without his brother, but when Descole nearly experienced death last year, he finally understood the true feelings of the man. He was just a hurt soul who could not bear to let his feelings show. If anything, he was struggling, and he most likely still was when he wrote that letter.

“There are many others things I could be doing at the moment, so I fear I am going to leave it at that. I don’t want to waste any more of our times.

Once again, I bid you farewell, Layton.”

No signature. Nothing. Just goodbye, like it always had been.

If Layton wanted things to change, he would have to start looking for information.

It couldn’t be so difficult; it’d always been his job, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I can only hope Descole's not too out of character in this one.


End file.
